They Had Been Children
by Veronica Pevensie
Summary: "They had been children. They had a phase where everything was always okay as long as everyone was holding hands and singing songs about flowers. Loki had grown out of it first."- Loki's insanity gets him banished. MENTIONS OF TORTURE.
1. Chapter 1

THEY HAD BEEN CHILDREN: PROLOGUE

Disclaimer: I don't own Thor.

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They had been children. They had a phase where everything was always okay as long as everyone was holding hands and singing songs about flowers. Loki had grown out of it first. He began to realize that life wasn't pretty and happy all the time. He realized that, most times, people step on you. They push you down if you let them get close. The harshness of this reality separated him from everyone else in Asgard, from his brother and his brother's friends...though that was all he really wanted. Separation from the rest of the world and its cruelty.

They had been children. They believed in the magical beauty of the world around them. Thor had never really grown out of it at all. He had always trusted in people and the goodness of people- even when they betrayed him. He always saw the positive side of things. Though he meant well, he never saw the pain and suffering Loki went through at the hands of the Asgardian people and the Aesir.

They had been children. Frigga watched them play outside, happiness radiating off them. She smiled at them and gave them advice. Most importantly, she showered them with love. It hurt her as she watched Loki drift away, as he distanced himself as best he could. She continued to guide him, but anyone could see how worried she was about her adopted son.

They had been children. Odin couldn't bring himself to tell Loki the truth, but couldn't bear to lie about it. He loved Loki as a son, and it broke his heart to watch him stray and sin. He never meant for it to go as far as it did. He meant to tell Loki one day, but he knew what Loki was already going through.

They had been children. Then things had changed. Loki had changed. Love became a repulsive sentiment. He decided that too much positivity was bad for one's health, so he stayed away from all things Thor. He started studying magic and it's powerful elements, enduring so much teasing from others, but he kept at it. _One day, I will show them. _He would tell himself at night, lying awake with those black words of hatred weighing down his heart. He pretended to care, pretended to love life, but he was sinking further and further every day into a dark abyss.

They had been children. Loki looked back on those days with disgust, those days when he trusted, when he actually thought that Sif could love him back. But Sif was always in love with Thor and she made it known that Loki was not wanted. He turned his back and acted as though it didn't hurt him (it did.)

They had been children. Then Loki pushed everyone out and barred the doors and sealed them as tightly as he knew how. He cried alone at night, until he learned that crying was for "children and women, not men." His chest ached with the emotional pain that he hid there, a pain that felt like Thor's hammer had hit his heart.

They had been children. Loki thought this in his room at night, as he sat on his balcony with a book on his lap. He pondered it, even, wondering how he was ever that naïve as to believe in love and happiness and _friendship _(disgusting.) He didn't understand how Thor could even stomach being _close_ to that, much less practicing it.

They had been children. People always remembered that. They always remembered Thor and Loki, but they never cared. Loki didn't care either. He didn't care about Thor or his friends or anyone but himself (and Frigga, hers being the only company he enjoyed.) He lived his life as best he could until it shattered around him and he was left picking up the pieces of his lonely, barren heart.

A/N: I hope you liked it! Please tell me what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

THEY HAD BEEN CHILDREN: CHAPTER ONE

A/N: I hope you liked my last chapter/prologue! Don't worry, not every paragraph is going to start with "They Had Been Children."

Disclaimer: I don't own Thor.

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Loki can't remember the last time he truly felt affection towards his brother. He supposes it was a few years ago, when he hadn't totally hardened his heart towards Thor. It's not like it really matters now, when he faces the hatred of the people of Asgard and his imminent exile.

Their shouts of anger, the animalistic snarls from the men closest to him pierce through him, making it a trial to hold his head high. He reminds himself to continue breathing, this is what he signed up for, this is what it means to be a god of the darkness. Exile to Niflheim isn't the worst thing they could do to him. His power could thrive there, make him stronger, make him invincible. Make him truly a god of the darkness.

As he is brought to the Bifrost, he sees Thor, standing there with an upset look on his face. Loki forces himself to stare, a sickening grin spreads across his face, Thor looks away. It's a routine that they keep on repeating, maddening and strangely comforting. The crowd falls silent as Odin takes Heimdall's sword and begins to speak.

"Loki Laufeyson," His voice booms out and Loki finds himself leaning closer, wanting to catch these repulsive words of doom. "I hereby banish you to the realm of Niflheim until you have come to your proper senses." He thrusts the sword down, down and the gate opens. He himself takes the responsibility of leading Loki to the path that will take him away.

"Your mother would have been so disappointed." Sif calls after him. "You monster! You-you-you _BASTARD!_"

"Your mother is the only reason you are being given an opening, Loki." Odin says lowly, firmly and sternly. Then, a shove and Loki is leaving it all behind, his heart swelling with something like gratitude. Niflheim will be better than Asgard.

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Niflheim is inhabited. Loki is thrilled to discover this, even if it is only one person. A young girl, to be exact. She has a braid that reaches far out past her, long enough to hang off the Bifrost and reach the sea below. _(1) _She is a small thing, nervous and innocent. She tells him her name without even blinking, without thinking of the dangers of it (it's Saga.) She even tells him her story when he asks. (She was sold by her father to a sorceress in return for a cure for her older brother's life-threatening illness.)

He thinks she will be very fun to torture, to hurt. To _break, _though one might say she is already. He knows better. She doesn't seem to view being locked up in a tower as torture, she only sees being banished here by the one person she thought she could trust as torture. Even with that, she thinks being able to keep her hair is, "just glorious." He _wants _to hear her scream, to see her bleed and feel the pain that he felt.

She seems to think of him as a friend, though. She tells him that the witch made a garden for her, far away from the rivers, enchanted so as to stay alive. ("She does still love me. I know she does, she just wishes me to see the consequences of my actions.") She invites Loki to share it with her, her blue eyes shining happily at having someone to speak to. He smiles and pretends to be just as happy, because he can't snub her. Not if he wants to get close enough to break her, to shatter her entire being. He willingly follows the long blonde braid to the garden.

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He lays awake that night next to Saga, thinking his plan through. They will become good friends, he will side with her and help her. And then, when they're close enough that she will follow him anywhere, he will begin. He will tie her to the apple tree with her hair and show her what the world is like, using ice from the rivers. She will see what it is to hurt, to bleed, to _die_ and do it all over again.

He loves the idea, loves the thought of seeing the brokenness in her sweet little eyes, loves to imagine her blood-curdling screams of pain and terror. It's only after a little while that he realizes that he doesn't really like the idea as much as he did before he met her.

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Saga can tell that Loki is awake as well, but she learned how to lie like an expert a long time ago. She knows what he plans, she knows his heart, but she knows that she can help him. If she can't, Mother Gothel will rescue her, take her home where she can study and eventually try all over again.

_Remember, Saga, reach out to him. Let him know that no one suffers alone. _She reminds herself, listening to Loki's breathing beside her. She can tell he's thinking of torturing her. Sometimes, his breath quickens, then slows. She tries to keep her own steady, knowing that throwing Loki off will result in failure. She can't let that happen. Frigga was too good of a woman to watch her son crash and burn and bring someone with him from Valhalla.

_"__Hush, my darling, sleep now." _Mother Gothel's voice floats into her head, beauty in familiarity. She curls up tighter with a happy sigh, singing silently to herself, content with hope for now.

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(1): Yes, this is Rapunzel. Except she's not at the same time. I just went to see _Into The Woods_.

A/N: Sorry it's short again. And sorry that it's getting darker. I just thought...he's kind of supposed to be insane. So, here he is, insane. Please tell me what you think!

Poll: Tell me in the reviews what direction you want me to swing in:

a) Saga fixes Loki and gets him back to Asgard where they remain long friends.

b) Saga can't fix Loki and ends up having to leave him behind to go home with the sorceress (Mother Gothel.)

c) Loki kills Saga.

d) Thor enters the picture and rescues Loki and Saga.


End file.
